历届美国总统简介：扎卡里·泰勒（在线收听）

 扎卡里·泰勒(Zachary Taylor,1784年-1850年），美国政治家，军事家，第十二任总统。这位戎马生涯40 载的将军，曾长期守卫着边疆阵地，拼杀于墨西哥战场。他没有任何政治经历，是19 世纪40 年代美国统治阶级扩张的热潮把他推到总统候选人的位置，又是以军功赢得竞选胜利而入主白宫。尽管他在战场上屡屡获胜，被称之为“机灵的大老粗”、“最大的英雄”，而从政却不如人意，最后由于派系斗争错综复杂，使他政务缠身且非常棘手，在任内死于病榻。他是继威廉·亨利·哈里森之后，第二位死于任内的美国总统。

Zachary Taylor was the United States’ 12th President. He was born in Virginia in 1784 and taken as an infant to Kentucky to be raised on a plantation. He lived in a small wood cabin, before moving to a brick house as a result of his family's increased prosperity. He shared the house with seven brothers and sisters. Since there were no schools on the Kentucky frontier, Taylor had only a basic education.

Taylor joined the U.S. Army in 1808. He was promoted to captain in 1810 and in 1812, he successfully defended Indiana’s Fort Harrison from attack by Native Americans. He spent the next three decades winning major military victories, including the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847 during the Mexican-American War. This last battle elevated him to being a national hero and compared with George Washington.

Taylor decided to enter politics in 1848. With his reputation as a war hero and his straight talking, he won the 1848 presidential election. The slavery issue dominated much of Taylor’s term in office, especially because he owned 100 slaves. He advised California and New Mexico to apply for statehood. Southern leaders threatened to break away from the Union as the new states would reject bills allowing slavery.

Taylor stood firm against the possible rebellion. He said he would personally lead the Army in a fight against them and hang “persons taken in rebellion…with less reluctance than…hanged deserters and spies in Mexico”. He never wavered, but events took an unexpected turn. He died in 1850 as a compromise was being drafted. The conflict he warned of started eleven years later – the American Civil War.